I'm Not Asking For Forever
by ComfyHobo
Summary: Edward lied. There WAS someone before Bella.
1. Chapter 1

Well, this is my first go at posting something on this site. I hope it's all okay, please review if you have time. And no flames, but constructive criticism would be great. _ComfyHobo_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Edward Cullen or Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does.

**Edward's POV**

As I watched Bella sleep I couldn't help but dwell on the lie I'd told.

"_Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars- points of light and reason… and then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn't se the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything."_

Technically, the most part was true. But my sky hadn't always been a moonless night.

Bella turned over in her sleep, and I turned back to the days previous to my sun's extinction….

**Her POV**

I touched the icy marble that was his miraculous skin, and I was home.

I'd always suspected the Cullen's of something inhuman. They way they shied away from everyone else… it was unnatural.

And it was those rare moments that I cherished more than any other part of my existence. But they really _were_ rare, which thus made them even more memorable. Because usually when I walked down the corridor, the crowd parted. Just like when Moses parted the red sea to get the Jews out of Egypt, only with teenagers and a school…

When I bumped into someone in the corridor. Just that brief moment of when my hand grazed his, and I knew he wasn't like the others.

But then anyone could see he wasn't. None of the Cullen's were.

Of all the people in our school, only I conformed less than them. I never spoke to anyone. I never ate, I was too clever, and there was definitely something 'off' about me. Just like the Cullen's. Except everyone knew what was wrong with me. Some of them had seen it.

Unlike the Cullen's. They still kept their secret close to their hearts. Their cold, hard, unbeating hearts. But they were definitely something more than human.

And Edward was something more again. The way he could control people, know about them, charm them round to his way of thinking…

Yes, he was different from the others. And I was the only non-Cullen who knew why.

They were Vampires. Edward was special, though. He could hear people thoughts – I'd felt his presence. He didn't know I knew, but when he was listening to me, I could listen to him. He forced my mind into the open, consequently releasing his thoughts.

So I knew he didn't know what I was. What I could do. And thanks to the Cullen's lack of social life outside themselves, none of them did. Edward had tried reading the truth, but because I knew of his endeavors, I could prevent him from succeeding. I could block a human's thoughts from him.

I drifted into my next lesson, unsure of which lesson that was. I never paid attention. I didn't need to. I already knew everything our one of our previous teachers had known. And it sickened me to know that much about someone I'd never met.

**Edward's POV**

She dropped her bag to floor across the room from me, giving me a smug look as she sat down, then turned her attention to the note book she always had. I heard her thoughts loud and clear as she concentrated on her latest doodle.

She was drawing a Vampire, a fictional, big collared, fanged, slick black hair, cartoon Vampire. I sat a little straighter in my seat and waited for her to continue.

She penciled in a cartoon teenage girl, just like what she looked like, then a speech bubble above her head.

_You will never know what I am if this is the best you've got._ Her thoughts accompanied the cartoon version of herself.

I looked over to her. Her long, dark blue hair fell like a curtain across her face, separating me from the truth behind her eyes. A pale hand with skin stretched to the point of splitting over her knuckles drew such curtain back and tucked her hair behind her ear. Then she looked at me. Her eyes twinkling, her lips pulled into a small, self-satisfied smile as she goaded me.

She looked back to the drawing and scribbled in a sun over the Vampire's head. She spun the pencil around and erased her eyes, replacing them with crosses, and drew a tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth. She then brought the rubber to the Vampire, and I expected her to rub his eyes out, too. But she replaced the bloody fangs with a small smile, and dotted all over the Vampire's skin.

She looked at me again, unthinking. I stared right back at her, pulling her simple message to pieces.

She knew what I was. She knew the sun wouldn't hurt me, just alter my skin. And she was telling me that the sun would hurt her. Kill her, maybe.

_Dead on._

Her thought interrupted mine and my eyes widened considerably.

How could she hear me?

_How can you hear me? _She mocked._ Like I said, you'll have to try harder than this._

I still couldn't think what else I could do, but I found myself assembling a mental profile of her.

She was in my year, she lived on the outskirts of town with her father – her mother died when she was little – they moved here a few years ago. During the first week she did something extraordinary, at a crime scene – I knew that much - yet no-one permitted themselves to think it. They called her Demonia, but I knew that wasn't her real name; just a nickname born out of what happened. But what did happen?

_Isn't that an interesting musing? What happened? What is she? What did she do? What's her _name_? Change the record. _

Well maybe if you gave me some help. I hissed back.

_But that would ruin my game._

Game?

'_How long does it take to drive Edward Cullen nuts?'_

Her voice was acidic, but I knew she didn't mean anything by it, it was what she'd stated: A game.

_A game that I'll win._

I jumped to my feet and stormed out of the classroom, ignoring the puzzled eyes of my class mates and teacher.

I ran out to my car and jumped into the driver's seat. I was scared, properly scared.

Because I knew so little about her, yet I did know she was right.

I was losing it. Every day the same, every day I saw her, I wanted to know, I would torture her if we were alone… anything, _anything_ to get her to slip up and spit it out.

_~ A few days later ~_

I couldn't face school anymore. It wasn't important, I'd already been there, but I knew it would look suspicious. I'd never been ill before.

I was ripping through the forest that surrounded my home at human speed, acting human, trying to feel human. I needed to know how they thought. Not just _what_ they thought, that was too obvious… but how they came to those thoughts. How the world looked from their point of view, what one of them would do to freak out a crowd at a murder scene. But nothing I could think of would make an entire town fear an individual for years. Nothing I came up with was huge enough, evil enough, _demonic enough_.

I knew it had to be demonic, something from another world, or at least made to be believed to come from another world.

I knew Demonia (I needed to call her something) wasn't a Vampire, although I had considered it. She had a steady heart beat and breathed dependently, like a human. I'd also considered the fact that she'd planted those sounds in my mind, but my family had heard it too, and mine was the only mind who she had ever entered.

Argh! None of this made sense!

Then I heard footsteps. I froze where I stood, looking towards the noises.

I walked forward silently and peered around a tree at Demonia.

Her black attire was more than conspicuous against the natural forest shades. She was climbing a tree, holding onto a rope hanging from one of the branches. She was crying relentlessly; I'd been thinking of her as a demon for so long, it shocked me to see her displaying so much emotion.

I crept towards her, but so she wouldn't notice me, and she pulled herself onto the branch the rope was tied around.

Then she fastened the noose around her neck and looked down.

I ran forward at Vampire speed and launched myself up the tree, onto the branch she was perched on in a second.

She jumped slightly and turned to me.

"What are you doing?" She choked on a sob.

"Come over here, please." I pleaded, more than cautious that if she jumped I most likely wouldn't save her.

"Why? What does it matter to you?" she cried out. "You don't know me; you don't even know my name… I'm sorry I've been playing mind games with you. I know what you are, when you listen to my thoughts I can hear yours, and I can control what thoughts you do and don't hear. That's why you don't know what I am." She looked down towards the floor again, fresh tears staining her face. "And now you never will." She leant forwards and nearly fell.

But I caught her.

"Don't kill yourself." I begged. "Please, think of who would miss you."

She scoffed. "Like who? I have no friends, incase you haven't noticed, everyone hates me, my dad leaves me to my own devices for the most part and you would be glad to not have me tormenting you anymore." She looked me dead in the face.

"Glad? Are you kidding? I would need a new hobby." I tried to steer the conversation away from suicide. "So, what is your name? All I've heard is Demonia, Demonia… but I don't think that's your name. Is it?"

She shook her head. "But it might as well be. It pretty much sums me up." She paused to take a deep breath, steadying herself. "I can't remember what my real name is."

"What about your dad?" I asked softly.

"He just calls me Dem. It might be my real name, I guess, but I think he's forgotten too. That accident did something to us. He doesn't like to talk about what I did… what I can do…"

"Which is?" I pressed, eager to settle my imagination.

She looked into my eyes. "You think I know you well enough to trust you with that?"

"No, but… would you tell me one day?"

She nodded slowly. "I'll show you one day."

By the way she looked at me I knew that was a promise. I smiled to myself as I realized that, maybe, I wasn't going to go crazy after all.

Demonia looked back down to the floor and her fingers gripped tighter around the branch.

"Do you want to climb down now?" I asked her tentatively.

She nodded, not looking at me, raising one hand to the rope around her neck. "Now I think about it, my Dad probably would miss me. And after Mum… died… he'd be all alone." Then she looked at me, smiling weakly. "And you _would_ need a new hobby."

She released herself from the noose and jumped.

If I were human, my heart beat would have sped way up. It was a long way for a human to fall. But she landed perfectly, feline. No crack of broken bones, no wince from the sudden impact of the earth beneath her feet… nothing.

I decided to take the tree down -I'd never been fond of falling- but at a vampiric speed, and was by her side in a fraction of a second.

Dem grinned weakly at me. "I could get used to seeing people do that."

"I couldn't." I replied, thinking of how far she'd jumped. So she really wasn't normal. We walked back to the main part of town, making a deal not to listen in on each others thoughts.

We decided to drop into school, but it had already finished.

"I'm just gunna go home. I need to talk to my dad about something." She said, starting off down the main road.

"See you tomorrow." I called after her. She laughed, nodded, and I knew she wouldn't try again. Not tonight, at least.


	2. Chapter 2

So, here we are; part 2. I hope I did it right… I'm still unsure of the whole layout of this site. And could someone tell me what all the 'oc' and 'ooc' means? Cause I really have no idea, but I've seen it next to characters names sometimes. Yup, I'm that retarded and new here. Although I have realized that there is rather a lot of slash on the site. I kind of emigrated from Quizilla, and I've never seen any on there, a few lemons though. Gawd, Lizzy and I got so freaked out by the Frank/Dwayne thing from Little Miss Sunshine. I nearly had nightmares! I can remember squirming in art. Fun times *sarcasm*. Anyway, enjoy, and review if you have time. Btw, there's only four parts to this… just thought I'd let you know.

Disclaimer: I do not own Edward Cullen or Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does.

**Demonia's POV.**

I sat down at my table in the cafeteria. I looked at the chicken sandwich in front of me in disgust. Humans had peculiar eating habits these days.

I closed my eyes and summoned a mental picture of my kind food that I had waiting at home, in the fridge. I imagined it cooked, and brought the chicken sandwich to my mouth.

But I couldn't do it. The smell repulsed me and I pushed the 'food' back to my plate.

"Hey." I looked up; Edward was standing at the opposite side of my table, a loaded food tray in his hands. "Can I sit with you?"

"No-one ever sits with me." The acid coating my tongue was accidental, but Edward nodded sadly and turned back to his own table. I felt too bad, after what he did yesterday… he knew I needed a friend, and he was right. "But there's a first for everything, I guess." I replied, softer than before.

He faced me again and smiled.

A few murmurs encircled the otherwise silent cafeteria, all eyes on us, and the fear that Edward would be next. But I knew he wouldn't be. He was a vampire.

"So, how are you?" I asked, trying to make at least a little bit of conversation. The rest of the cafeteria started buzzing again, but every few seconds someone would turn around and eye us warily.

"I'm good, thank you, and yourself?"

"I'm better than I was yesterday. A lot better. Hey, thank you for not letting me fall." I said seriously, looking up at him.

"I'll never let you fall." Edward replied, deep and truthfully, even more serious than I was.

I blushed slightly and air got trapped in my lungs. I opened my mouth to reply, though what with, I was uncertain, when two more chairs were dragged out from under the table and Alice and Jasper -Edward's siblings- joined us.

"Hey guys, whatcha talking about?" Alice said, bouncing slightly.

I stared at her incredulously.

"Guys, we're in the middle of a conversation here." Edward said, irritated.

"So?" Alice replied, an indifferent smile on her pixie face.

"What are you doing?" I asked bluntly, not believing that _she_ was sitting at _my_ table. No one sat at my table.

"Getting lunch," she replied cheerily.

"At this table?" I asked, losing it a little inside.

"Yeah. I'm sitting with my brother, like I always do." She beamed at Edward, who looked worriedly, almost frightened, at me. I felt all my anger rise inside of me, my eyes narrowed to slits, and I knew that I needed to get out before I hurt one of them. _If _I could hurt one of them. But why did people have to be so _annoying_? "Hey, Jazz, what were you saying earlier?"

Then I did lose it.

I stood up, swore loudly, turned the table upside down at the Cullen's feet and stormed out to the car park, while Edward watched, almost horrified at what I was thinking about doing to myself. I didn't have it in me to hurt someone else, and I had to take my anger out on some one, right? I could've used inanimate objects, but it didn't feel the same without the pain.

He ran out after me a few seconds later, at human speed.

"Wait!" he called, although he could've caught me easily if he didn't have to protect his stupid secret.

"Why?" I yelled back, about-turning to face him. "If it weren't for you, I'd be dead by now. Yet you don't even know me. I tried talking to you, I tried being 'normal' -whatever the hell that is- and I hate people! I hate everyone! They can't grasp the concept of privacy, they interrupt conversations and try to become part of things that are nothing to do with them, and they sit, at my table!" I yelled, letting off as much steam as I could so I wouldn't be so angry when I got home.

"That's just Alice and Jasper, most people aren't like that." He replied calmly.

"What do you want me to do, sift through every human being on this world until I find a handful of people that are satisfactory? I'm not doing that. I have no place here, in this town, on this earth. I hate it here, Edward; you should've let me fall." Tears stung at my eyes. I'd really thought I was close to a normal life, a friend.

He shook his head. "I see where this is going." He started towards me. "I'm not going to let you throw your life away. I meant what I said; I'll _never_ let you fall." He picked me up and slung me over his shoulder. I could've stopped him, or at least brought him to my level, but that would end the game… it would lose me the game. I settled for some kicks aimed at his face, but soon gave up. My feet were no match for his Vampiric skin, and I knew_ I_ would be the one with bruises in the morning.

"You know what; I can't be bothered to fight you. You can't hold me hostage forever."

"Just long enough." I could hear the smug smile in his voice.

He ran as fast as he dared in the open to his car, put me in it, and drove me to his house.

I started the short journey tedious, bored –and slightly irritated- by the fact that he was forcing me against my will. But then I started to appreciate the whole concept of the ride. I'd never been to his house before, only in his head.

He led me inside and asked me to sit in the living room. The whole house was white, and open. The couch was huge and a humungous TV was set at the front of the room.

Edward flitted in with a bowl of Doritos and put them on the coffee table. He scratched his head, thinking, then turned the TV on and sat next to me.

We stared animatedly at the screen for a few seconds. A film was on, with robots and stuff, but I didn't pay too much attention. I spaced out for the most part, but thought about how long he was keeping me here, and what he'd meant by "Just long enough".

The film must have ended because Edward turned the TV off and faced me, his elbow propped against the back of the sofa and his hand on his face.

"What?" I asked him.

"You need to cheer up." He stated. Well, duh.

"You know I wouldn't guess that, what with me being suicidal and all that." I muttered sarcastically. I noticed that my face was wet with tears, still rolling slowly from my eyes.

"Why aren't you happier?"

"I'm being held hostage."

"No, I mean, in general." He said, but I'd known what he meant.

"But then I'd have to tell you what I am."

"Then do it." He said coolly. "If it can help me cheer you up, do it."

I breathed in deeply a few times, then looked him deep in the eyes.

"Promise not to get freaked out?"

"I'm a vampire, what could possibly freak me out?"

"I'm half chicken half squirrel." I joked, but my face remained straight, as did Edward's.

"Ha, ha. Go on, tell me… please." He urged. I knew he wasn't keeping me here to upset me. He honestly wanted to help. And we got on fine when the rest of them weren't there.

I took another deep breath and faced him again; his eyes were a blend of confusion, pain and serenity. Why pain? I don't know.

"I can bring people back to life." I whispered.

He stared forward unseeingly, frozen.

"Apparently that can freak you out." I smiled woodenly. I moved forward and his eyes didn't follow me, just stared straight ahead. "Okay..."

Still he didn't move.

"Well, I hope you're listening. I can only bring people back temporarily, for a few minutes. That's what happened that day at the crime scene; I brought the dead body back to life to find out who killed him. The police couldn't believe it, but arrested the murderer, later finding loads of evidence pointing towards him. But the people who watched… half of town saw me reach inside of him and restart his heart beating.

"And that's also why my mother died when I was a baby. She was holding me and I clasped my hand around her ticker, but she was alive. It killed her. Father wasn't surprised, just devastated. My mother was the same as me. And when I bring someone back, I absorb their memories when they die again. That's why I don't need to pay any attention in class to ace tests. The guy who got murdered was one of the teachers, so I knew everything he knew. And I knew everything my mother knew, and all the knowledge of the people she brought back, so their killers could be bought to justice… that's how I'm so smart."

He still didn't move.

I smiled to myself.

"I'll let myself out, then. Goodbye, Edward. You won the game." I said sadly, then I realized the one thing I had to live for, the one game I was fighting for, was over at last. I'd cut the last string attached to my life.

I stood and drifted to the door, but Edward got there before me and locked it, pocketing the key.

"It's not ever yet, is it?" I winced.

"No, it's not." He took my hand, pulled me back into the living room and down onto the sofa.

"You can bring people back to life?" he questioned, although he knew the answer. "You're not joking?"

"I wouldn't joke about that. It's true, Edward." I felt sad now, ashamed that I was so different. When all I'd ever really wanted was to fit in.

Then I noticed he was listening to my thoughts.

"Edward," I groaned, too tired and depressed to fight him, to get him out of my mind.

"You want to fit in?"

"More than anything," I replied weakly, honestly. "But not a big group; just a few people. A few really close friends." I said slowly. "Just… one… friend." I whispered, my face somehow now mere inches from his. He leant forward and pressed his lips momentarily to mine.

I checked he wasn't listening before I thought… I fitted in here. Edward was my one friend.

I leant forward again, "Wait," He breathed against my lips. "Could I… I mean, if I lost control, could I hurt you?"

I didn't want to give him a reason to keep away, but I didn't want to lie, either.

"I'm as fragile as a human." I whispered desolately. He nodded, then his brow furrowed.

"What about when you jumped from that tree?"

I winced. "Honestly? That was more practice and illusion. I'm used to jumping out of my window, so I can handle from the first floor. I created an illusion in your head to mess with your mind. It wasn't as tall a tree as you thought it was. Sorry."

He laughed softly, our faces still close. "You really want me to go crazy, don't you?"

I shook my head seriously. "Not anymore." I kissed him again, but only for a few seconds.

"So how long are you keeping me here?"

"Until I'm sure it's been enough."

I froze. "Are you just doing this so I don't top myself?" I asked, enraged.

"No!" His eyes were alight with fear. But not fear of being found out. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I meant until I'm sure you realize that I will _never_ let you fall." He said strongly, locking his arms around me, staring straight into my eyes.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me, still unsure, breathing in his scent.

Most Vampires smelt a little… off. But not this Vampire.

I inhaled deeply, unsure of how long it would be until Dad noticed my absence.

I sought out the clock from Edward's arms; 7:08.

"Shit," I whispered. "Can I call my dad?"

"Damn, I didn't think about that." Edward admitted.

Just like I didn't think about the fact that he would let go of me to fetch the phone.

He handed it to me and sat by my side again. I punched in the number, it rang twice then Dad picked up.

"Dem?" Came his panicked voice.

"Yes, Dad, it's me. I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner; I'm at a friend's house. I'm really sorry, I forgot to tell you."

"Oh, thank god, I thought you'd…" He breathed in deeply a few times, not wanting to finish that sentence. "Wait a minute… a friend's house?" I heard the grin dominate his voice. I looked at Edward and smiled.

"Yeah, Dad, a friend's house. Someone from school." I told him. "I'll be home soon, don't worry. And I really am sorry I didn't ring sooner."

"It's okay, Dems, as long as you're okay." The relief in his voice was strong.

"Bye, I love you, Dad."

"I love you, too, Dems."

I hung up and turned to Edward solemnly.

"I was going to leave him." More tears stung at my eyes. Tears for being so selfish and cruel. He was my _Dad_. And I owed it all to Edward for stopping me.

"Come here." He put his cold arms around me. "Don't you think on it. You're still here, it's okay. I'll never let you fall." He whispered in my ear as I composed myself.

I looked into his eyes, his arms still around me. "Thank you."

He wiped my tears away and tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. "I'll always be here for you." He kissed me softly again, this time for a little longer. When he pulled away I couldn't prevent the corners of my mouth pulling into a grin.

"Oh… I told my Dad I'd be home soon."

"Then soon you'll be home."

He drove me home as fast as his car would allow, with me giving rubbish directions all the way; the 'no, the other left' sort of directions.

Dad was waiting outside when we got there. He threw his arms around me, glad to see me safe from myself. He whispered in my ear; "You didn't tell me it was a _guy_." It shocked me to have him sounding so much like a Dad.

I remembered Edward. I turned around to thank him, to touch him one more time that night, but he was already driving away, his torso out of the window, waving at me, steering with one hand.

I laughed and waved back until he ducked inside his car.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Edward Cullen, or Twilight.

Well, here's part three. Only one more after this; it's rather a short story. _ComfyHobo_

**Edward's POV.**

As dawn broke, and the clouds kept the sun away, I wondered what Dem would be doing right then.

Probably still sleeping, it _was_ a Saturday, after all. I wondered if she'd done anything to hurt herself, and I knew there was only one way to find out.

I flitted down to the garage and pulled my Volvo out onto the road. I drove slowly -slow even for a human- to Dem's house.

As I sat outside, I couldn't help but think that the building looked so ordinary. No one would ever suspect it of housing a teenager who could bring people back from the dead. Then I pondered whether she could bring me back. Even for only a few minutes… it would be an amazing experience, to be human again, for an insignificant period of time… for any period of time.

Then the front door opened and her dad stepped out. He put a black bin bag just outside the door and looked up at me.

I realized how it must look to him. I was waiting outside his house, for some unknown reason. He might think Dem was sneaking out, or I was sneaking in.

But he didn't look displeased. He walked right up to my car and leant his arm against the top of the frame of the open window, a smile on his face.

"Hi, I'm Ray, Dem's dad." He held out his hand and I shook it.

"I'm Edward, it's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too, son." He looked around nervously, then leant a little closer, like he was about to whisper a secret.

"Dem tells me she tried to… you know… and you stopped her. But you didn't even know her. Anyhow, I feel I owe you a lot. She's all I've got left. Her mother died when Dem was a baby, and she's an only child. My brother died last year, so she's all the family I've got now. Thank you, Edward." I could see the sincerity in his eyes.

"It's my pleasure, I assure you. Look, I know it might be personal, but Dem and I were talking yesterday, and she mentioned that she can't remember her name. All the kids at school call her Demonia," I saw him flinch at the name, "And I was wondering… you don't have to say, but… what is her name?"

He was silent for a few minutes, and I was about to ask him to forget about it, but then he looked straight at me.

"She hates Demonia, she's more human than anything else… just like her mother –looks like her too- and I hate using that name, but it's all I have. I've no birth certificates, no records… nothing. Just a stupid nickname. And it's that much harder because it was one of her mother's last requests, that we never let her forget her name…" the pain in his eyes died and he offered to go and tell Dem that I was here. Before I could answer he went straight back into the house and I heard him yell for her.

A few seconds later he beckoned me towards the house.

I hesitantly climbed out of the Volvo and went into Dem's home.

"She's upstairs, first door on the right." Ray informed me, his voice dead as he closed the front door.

"Thanks," I walked silently up the stairs. When I reached the top I heard Ray turn the TV on in the front room.

I knocked on the first door; no reply.

I knocked again, still nothing. I carefully pushed the door open. Dem was sat cross-legged on the floor, her eyes rolled so far up her irises were hidden, a pencil in her hand, scratching softly against a piece of paper. She was drawing a picture of a man holding a woman's head back and forcing bleach down her throat. It was the same room as this, but nearly unrecognizable, due to Demonia redecorating.

"Dem?" I whispered. Her eyes snapped to me and the lead of the pencil broke on the blood stained bed in her drawing.

She looked down at the paper, scrutinized it then pegged it on a string next to a drawing of the same scene, but through the woman's eyes, her over bearing husband crying as he cradled her, ignoring the screams.

"What's all that about?" I asked, hoping she'd answer me this time.

"I'm studying something." She tapped the pencil with her fingers and turned to face me. "A woman died in this room a few months before we moved here. She was murdered; her spirit lingers in this room, the room in which she died. I know it was her husband, or boyfriend or something, and I know he used bleach… but I don't know why. It's sort of frustrating. I'm guessing he pleaded guilty to the murder, so the police never went into details. But I'm not the police."

"You believe in that stuff?" I asked. Of course she did, she was standing next to a vampire and she could bring people back to life. She merely nodded, and I remember the thought I'd had earlier.

"I was wondering, could you bring me back? I mean, I'm not dead exactly, but my heart isn't beating." She considered it for a moment.

"I don't know." She frowned, then raised one eyebrow. "And I'm not going to find out, I could potentially kill you. I don't think that would be the best way to repay you for saving me from myself."

I shook my head, there had to be someway to convince her. Just a few thoughts earlier made me want to be human again so badly… it was so typically… human, to want what I couldn't have… but what if I could have it?

"No, I don't think you would kill me. If you could get the point where you could –if you could penetrate my skin, in other words- you wouldn't be able to stop my heart from beating, as it isn't beating in the first place. You can't lose." I smiled, glad it had been easy to think of something.

"Are you sure?" she asked, stepping towards me precariously.

I nodded and stepped forwards, minimalizing the gap between us. She reached up slowly and put her hand over where my heart was.

"I'm not sure about this." She made to pull her hand away, put I pulled it back to me.

"Please, Dem," I begged. She knew she owed me, not that I was worried about that. Just the idea of breathing again, feeling my heart beat again, was enough to get me addicted, to make me want something beyond the point of reason.

"You know, maybe it will work. Maybe you'll just be human for a few minutes and then go back to how you are now." I could hear she only half believed her words, but she seemed to be getting more confident. She looked into my eyes, checking that I was confident enough for the both of us.

She unbuttoned my shirt and pushed her fingernails against my chest. My skin gave way to her power, she melted my bones and locked her hand around my chest. Although it didn't hurt, I felt the coldness of her hand leaving me again.

"Did it work?" I asked, my teeth chattering. "It's freezing in here."

The blood pounded weakly in my ears as she wrapped a thick blanket around me.

"How do you feel?" she asked tentatively.

A grin spread across my face. "Human." I took a deep breath and the warm air filled my lungs. My veins throbbed strangely, they hadn't been used for the best part of a century, and my stomach grumbled. "I don't know how you can stand it."

"I don't know how you can stand not eating. You want something?"

"Nah, it'll only be for a few minutes." Then it dawned on me that I only had a few minutes left. What would I do with them?

"You know… you can't hurt me anymore." Dem stepped up to me. "Not any more than I could hurt you, anyway."

I dropped the blanket slowly to the floor and pulled her closer to me.

**Demonia's POV.**

His arms snaked around my waist and I twisted my hands into his hair. I kissed him back hungrily, his skin warming slightly all the time. One of Edwards's hands went up the back of my shirt and against the lower part of my back, and the other on my side, his skin cold on mine, as usual.

After a minute or two of our tongues wrestling, Edward warmed up to standard human temperature.

But then I felt his temperature dwindle and his heart slow. Yet I couldn't stop it. Then his grip hardened on my bones and I felt bruises bubble quickly to the surface. If I didn't have an unnatural want for physical pain, I would've stopped it as soon as his hands grew too hard.

But that's not why I pulled away. It would hurt him later, if he saw the bruises that I helped him cause.

"Edward," I whispered against his skin. His heart had stopped by then, and his skin was back to the marble feel it always had.

"Oh, God. I'm sorry," He said quickly, noticing he was no longer human. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," I lied easily. "No, I'm okay." And that was true. In fact, I hadn't been much better in years. Maybe he really did want me.

But as I felt the blood pulse angrily under the bruise on my back I knew I would need more pain. I was an addict, pain was my cannabis, and I would have to come back for more. It was only a matter of time.

**Edward's POV**

It was the day after Dem made me human, and I still couldn't stop thinking about it. I was driving around to Dem's house again. The Sunday morning sun had risen hours before, and the clouds had simultaneously blanked it from this part of the world.

"Good morning, Edward." Ray welcomed me warmly at his front door, beaming. "She's upstairs,"

I thanked Ray, and jumped up the stairs three at a time. I knocked on Dem's door, and there was no answer, the same as yesterday.

Again, I pushed the door open slightly and spotted Dem sitting cross legged on the floor, _exactly_ the same as yesterday.

But the picture she was drawing had changed.

The man wasn't pouring the bleach down the woman's throat anymore; she was pouring it down herself. He was screaming at her to stop, but he couldn't force her. Or rather, he wouldn't.

Dem penciled in the clock, 11:45, and it was light outside. The window was open and the curtains waved softly.

Then she reached for a new piece of paper. It was fascinating to watch, how she didn't know what she was doing, yet the picture seemed so… perfect. This new picture was exactly the same, except the bleach bottle had disappeared. She was holding a knife now, her blood stained his white shirt and explained the dark stains on the bed sheets.

Then Demonia went back to normal. She stared down at the drawings and frowned.

"It keeps changing…" She whispered, then she looked up at me. "Why is it changing?" She asked desperately. "How can the past change?" her eyes were weary, with black shadows underneath and her hair was pulled back loosely.

"I don't know." I whispered, shaking my head. "Not unless there was some way someone could go back and change it." I'd seen enough movies in my time.

She shook her head. "There's only these two, and I think, judging by their faces, if he could change it, he would prevent it, and she would probably take away his pain." She looked into my eyes, still looking tired and desperate. "I wrote her suicide note. It's over there." She pointed at the string on which hung her previous pictures.

I found the letter quickly. It was short, so I read it hastily.

_I'm sorry I have to do this, but I can't take this place anymore. I can't take the people. There's no-one left for me here, no-one but you, and I hope you can help me, but if not… well I guess you'll have to be the one to live with it. Life is too much to ask from me, and I can only hope you won't hurt over this. I considered making you hate me first, but I didn't want to go with you despising me. Because you are the only one who matters to me now. I hope you can forgive me, and I hope you can move on. I just want you to know that these last few days have been the very best days of my life. And no-one can compare to how I feel about you. I love you._

The drawing pegged up next to the note was of the man looking down at her, not, this time, ignoring the screams, but creating them himself. There was fear in his eyes, confusion and sorrow, tears, and words scattered around his head.

_No, don't die, please, stay with me. Don't die! Laura, I love you, too, don't die, don't do this, please._

"I just don't understand." Dem said, falling down on her bed. "I guess… this is the next big obstacle of life… I finally get on with someone that's not my dad, now I have to work this out." She looked up at me. "Does it ever end?"

I shook my head. "Not until death." And I wished I hadn't spoken.

Her eyes zoned in on my face, no longer tired, thoughts running through her head faster than the speed of light, and I didn't need to listen to her inner wonderings to know what she wanted.

"Please?" she begged, knowing I knew.

"No," I hook my head firmly, stepping back. "No, Dem it's not going to happen."

"But I hate being human!"

"You've only got one problem!" I whined, wishing she would forget the notion of me taking her humanity.

"That you know of." She mumbled.

I breathed in deeply and sat down next to her, putting my arm around her.

"Dem… what is it?" I asked, hoping there was some way I could help her. Without giving her what she directly wanted, at least.

"Don't worry about it." The exhaustion was thick in her voice.  
I quickly invaded her head, before she had a chance to stop me.

All I saw was an image of her Father watching TV, oblivious to the fact that she was watching him.

Then she fell against me, lapsed into a deep sleep. I sighed, but inside I was grateful for her humanity – something I could never take away from her. No matter how much she begged.


	4. Chapter 4

Howdy there, last part of this story. I might upload a Darren Shan fanfic next, I wrote it a while back. Anyways, thanks for reading, and review if you have time. _ComfyHobo_

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight, or Edward Cullen, Stephenie Meyer does.

Demonia's POV

I woke up underneath my quilts, which was peculiar because I didn't recall pulling them over me. I looked around, sure to find something not commonplace, when my eyes fell upon Edward. He was staring at me, forever frozen at 17, never needing to sleep, eat, not even breathe… just waiting.

Waiting for nothing. Because nothing could damage him now, not unless he allowed it. He could walk away right now and never look back; this town meant nothing to him, just like all of the other towns that had held his residence.

I pushed the covers away from me and found I was still fully clothed.

"Did you stay here all night?" I wondered aloud. He nodded absently in response and kept staring straight ahead.

I watched him sit motionlessly for a few minutes; it was hours before school demanded our presence, so we had time.

"My sister can see the future." He whispered.

I frowned, "I know," I replied, and waited for him to continue.

"And it changes, when someone changes their mind… or makes a decision… the future changes. Even minute, insignificant, subconscious decisions, like what to have for breakfast. If you were to decide to skip breakfast, and left for school early, you could get talking to someone and make them late for a meeting or something, and they could get hit by a truck and die."

"Do you want me to eat breakfast?" I joked.

He shook his head.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway, the only person I talk to is you, and you wouldn't get hit by a bus." But I knew what he meant; he thought my drawings were being changed by someone's mind changing in the past, at a time parallel to this one through me.

"It wouldn't hurt me even if I did."

My still slightly sleepy eyes snapped awake.

"What?"

He frowned at me. "A truck wouldn't hurt me. Nothing would, except vampire teeth, of course."

I stared back in wonderment. He got to be invincible too? Aw, man.

He grinned at me, "I'll show you." He ran at full vampire speed out of my door and back in the same split second.

He was holding a kitchen knife. He used it to raise his shirt and attacked his stomach with the blade. I screamed, expecting him to slice himself open, only to watch as the shards of metal fell to the floor. It reminded me of those HD adverts on the television, only so much better.

"Make me like you." I begged, accidentally voicing my most recent desire.

"No," And he was back again: the tenacious Edward who acted as though vampirism was some kind of crime, and I was a toddler about to commit.

"Why not?"

"I won't take your humanity."

I scoffed. "Or what little there is of it. Edward, I can bring people back from the dead. The only human I have any contact with is my father, and he's on his way out anyway."

"What?" Edward's eyes snapped to my face, and I remembered he didn't know.

"Dad has cancer." I whispered, my voice cracking. It was like breaking the news to myself all over again. "He's refusing treatment; he said he'll keep fighting it himself for as long as he can, as long as I need him. It's been a few months, and he's pretty much taught me everything there is to know about living alone, I could cope perfectly if he left now. A few days ago he said he wanted treatment, he wanted to see me graduate, see me have a life of my own, but the doctors said it's too late now. Even if he did get chemotherapy, it wouldn't be effective."

The words echoed in the silence of my mind.

"It's still not going to happen."

"Then go." I whispered, too upset to be angry. He was so unnecessarily stubborn.

He got up sadly, but I didn't care. What did he think, that he could stop me from killing myself, only to leave me on my own and forever suicidal afterwards? No, he wasn't getting away with it that easily.

I promised myself there and then. A solemn promise that I would figure out what happened in that very room years ago, and then that was it for humanity. Screw being human, after tonight, it was vampire or nothing.

Edward's POV

Dem wasn't at school that day. I waited for a little while, hoping she was just late, but I soon conceded defeat and drove to her house. I couldn't stand her being mad at me, and I couldn't take not knowing.

I ran into the house, not bothering to knock –the door was open- and I ran straight up to Dem's room.

It had changed. She had repainted, brought in new furniture, new curtains, carpet, everything. So now it was an exact echo of the back ground in her drawings.

"What have you done?" I cried out.

"I'm recreating the past." She replied flatly.

Demonia's voice had come from the other side of the room, where she was forcing the corner of the carpet flat against the floor.

I looked at the clock. It said 11:32. Dem was hoping that, in thirteen minutes, the past would reappear? It seemed bonkers, but it was better than waiting around for some epiphany.

Demonia turned to look at me. Her face was stained with tears, her eyes still red and leaking.

"Dad died." She whispered into the silence of the new room.

"Oh, my God, I'm sorry, Dem," I stepped over to her and hugged her tight to me. She cried into my white shirt for a few minutes. I held her, deeply relieved that she wasn't mad at me, but frightened at what might happen in 10 minutes. Then pulled away from me, whispering to herself "I'm okay," over and over.

"Well at least one good thing came out of it."

I frowned, what good could possibly come from her dad's death? "He remembered my name." She whispered.

"So what is it?" I asked, for some reason her name seemed more important to me; a name is what defines someone, makes them seem more real. A person is more likely to be missed if their name is known; otherwise it's just a corpse. It's harder to grieve the unknown.

"Make me a vampire," She said strongly. "Please, now I have nothing left, no strings to humanity… please, Edward." I could see in her eyes that she really wanted it. She really wanted forever.

"You want forever with _me_?" I laughed.

"If you want me, then I want you, but I'm not asking for forever. Just don't leave me here on my own. Don't leave me human. Please," She was straight forward begging, and I hated not giving her what she wanted, but I couldn't take the one thing keeping her under control. A new born who could bring people back to life could possibly end everything known to this world.

"I can't," My voice cracked, I hated all of this, of her begging, when all I wanted to do was crack under the pressure, to run out of will power. But I was too strong. I longed for just a moment of weakness, just long enough to ensure that we _did _have forever. I'd known since she told me to get out this morning that I loved her. She had to be happy, but she had to be human. Argh, why couldn't I just snap?!

"Well I can't stay like this. It sounds childish, but it's vampire or nothing." Demonia pulled a knife out of her back pocket, a knife identical to the one I'd held earlier. She mirrored my earlier actions, raising her t-shirt with the blade. "It's a shame history can't repeat itself so you can see the beauty from the other end of this."

"Dem, don't." I wanted so much for her to laugh, to tell me this was all a joke. But I couldn't bring myself away from the reality of what she was capable of doing right now. What was I thinking? That I could stop her from killing herself, just to leave her alone and forever suicidal? Could I leave her vulnerable to herself, vulnerable to what she could do to herself, powerless under her own strength and the pressure of a blade against her skin?

No, not even when hell freezes over.

But could I take her humanity?

No, I couldn't condemn her to a life like mine; I couldn't bring her to my level. Even if she didn't turn evil, if she was the most perfect vampire, more good even than Carlisle, I couldn't take her soul.

I began to think that I could control her if she were a crazed newborn. My family might help me, Carlisle and Esme probably would, but what about the others? And I would have to do something to stop her making us human. A few minutes would be all she would need to start an army of new born vampires, to potentially end the world if the power proved too much.

I glanced at the clock, wondering if-

11:45.

It was time.

Dem pressed the blade through her skin, through the barriers of her stomach, slicing open all the veins and arteries, releasing the fresh, human blood…

The thirst consumed me for a second, but once my will power was re-established, I caught Dem on her descent to the floor. I tried to concentrate on the smell of wet paint instead of blood, but soon gave up breathing all together.

"Dem… no," I sobbed, wishing that just this once the tears would come and she would really see that I was feeling. For a moment I considered biting her, I could feign a moment of weakness; I could condemn her to a life time of no sleeping or eating, anything if I could spend forever with her…

But the absence of tears?? No, she had to be human. She had earned at least that right. I had to call an ambulance, to save her. But I couldn't leave her.

"Edward…" I looked at her face, trying to ignore the blood seeping into my once white shirt. I pulled her body closer to mine; cradling her in her last human moments… maybe I could change her…

"I worked it all out. The drawings, the visions, all of it." She smiled weakly, then her face straightened. I'm Lorraine," She cried, her voice cracking. And I understood everything.

She wasn't getting echoes of the past, ghosts weren't haunting her, or wanting vengeance or fury… she was seeing the future. And I'd spoken to her about Alice. I'd been so close.

I cried out, and Dem awkwardly pulled the note from her pocket.

"I don't mean to repeat myself, but…"

It was the same note as the one I'd seen a few days back on her string of the so-called 'past'. Only this time it made sense.

I already knew what I had to say, but I didn't have to think back in order for them to be forced out of my mouth.

"Lorraine? No. No… don't die, please, stay with me. Don't die! I love you, too, don't die, don't do this, please."

"I'm sorry." Was all she whispered in response.

"Dem, my love, we can have forever, we can have _your_ life time," She shook her head, too much pain to speak now, not enough blood to carry on. "I know it's not what you want, but this?" I gestured to the now gaping hole in her stomach, a fresh wave of thirst walking over me.

She gave me a look to say "If I have to."

"Love…" I tried to force myself to bite, to force myself to take her human life… but "I can't. I can't do it, Dem."

I let her body rest against the floor, standing to go get the phone, to get an ambulance, Carlisle… anyone with a shot of helping.

"Edward…" She choked, "I couldn't ask you for forever, but don't leave me now. Please," I fell back to my knees, lay down next to her, resigned to wait with her through her last, her hand in mine, and counted her heartbeats.

Waiting as they slowed, became a waste of energy, almost a waste of time, but I knew this wasn't a waste. Her life wasn't a waste.

"I love you," I whispered to the almost-corpse. She squeezed my hand, her effort feeble even for a human. It just made my insides hurt that much more.

She opened her mouth to reply, but her energy had dwindled beyond return, and all I heard was her put the sound into my head, her soft voice echoing from the boundaries of my mind as she thought;

"I love you, too."

I didn't want any other sound to penetrate the lasting echo of her final thought. I replayed the memory of the sound over and over, knowing that any real sound would make the memory hazy and unreal. A distant fantasy…

I disentangled my fingers from those of the corpse of my love, pulled my blooded shirt over my head and rested it next to Demonia. She would always be Dem to me. The Dem who nearly fell… who I nearly let fall that day in the tree, whom I nearly let fall the day I kidnapped her. The Dem I made a promise to… a promise that I would never let her fall.

Such promise was broken.

I told myself that I wouldn't let it happen again. If I found someone else, I wouldn't care about what she could d o as a newborn. I'd only care about the future. Our future.

But if I couldn't keep one promise, could I ever keep another?

And I thought of another promise.

A promise from a father to his dying wife, and if Ray had never temporarily forgotten the name of his daughter, I might've been able to prevent this.

I choked on the blood-perfumed air as I closed Dem's cold, dead eyes. I kissed her eyelids softly, then her lips, my own shaking.

The pain hung heavy in my unbeating heart, my torso bare as I walked out of Dem's house, not much more than an animated corpse myself, out of the house that was now unoccupied apart from the two corpses lying inside –Ray was lying on the sofa- and the two spirits that would probably leave together. They only had each other in life, and now in death. Father and daughter, a bond of unconditional love.

But any true love was forever, even if forever was not asked for.


End file.
